“Zerb Lanmer”. This is how seagrasses are now referred to in Seychellois Creole.
Having proper terminology for seagrass allows for their better consideration and valuation, which is what has motivated a Seychelles-based organisation to lead a campaign to adopt Creole words for different types of seagrasses found in the country’s coastal waters.
The organisation, the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) has worked with members of the public, fishers, linguists, and scientists, to coin the general term for seagrasses, Zerb Lanmer, and names for the five main seagrasses found around Seychelles.
ICRI member Seychelles counts around 20,000 km2 of seagrass meadows in the exclusive economic zone surrounding Seychelles. Seagrasses provide wide range of benefits in the archipelago, from preventing surging seas from eroding the coastline, to ecosystem services like carbon sequestration and providing habitat for species like turtles and dugongs.
